Games of chance have existed for much of the past few centuries. Such games take several forms. For example, a game of chance could be a game similar to bingo where numbers are randomly selected or a game based on an outcome of a roll of dice. Over the past several decades, games of chance have been games whose outcome is based on output of a random number generator (RNG) in a gaming machine, such as a slot machine. Typically, these games were based on pure chance as such an approach allowed a gaming establishment to have tight control over the odds of a game over time.
One reason games of chance in a gaming establishment are popular is because an amateur, novice, or inexperienced player can play the games at the player's own pace with no required skills, strategy, or risk evaluation and perform as well as a seasoned or experienced slot game player. For example, most slot machines are set to payback on average between 80% and 99% of amounts that players wager. In most modern slot machines, a processor controlling the gaming machine randomly determines outcomes and awards.
While most of the games in a gaming establishment have historically been games of pure chance, lately, gaming establishments have seen an increasing popularity of games that involve certain player strategy, or decision-making, such as blackjack and more recently, an explosive growth of various types of poker. These games generally require a certain level of strategy and skill to be successful. Gaming establishments are interested in capitalizing on the popularity of such games and creating games that cater to demographics that are interested in games that have some element of skill associated with the outcome because many known games of chance do not appeal to people who have played skill based games that reward skill and strategy. These people may not want to play games of chance that are purely based on randomly generated outcomes and involve no skill or little skill. These people enjoy the competitive nature of skill games. Skill games that many people have especially grown accustomed to and comfortable with playing are arcade skill games, home video skill games, computer skill games, handheld device skill games, and data network (e.g., Internet) skill games. These games of skill require strategy or timing of inputs by the player to determine success and failure.